V, my main man
“Lover Unbound” by JR Ward
Ma’mselle Mimi flings her door open and emerges clutching The Book to her chest, stroking its shiny blue cover. Making her way to the now-complete JR Ward Shrine, she carefully sits The Book on its stand (complete with spotlights) and replaces the bullet-proof glass cover.
For the past 6 months, since Butch’s book “Lover Revealedâ€, I have told one and all that “Lover Unboundâ€, the story of my main man, Vishous, will be better than all the books in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, that it will be, to put it bluntly, DA BOMB.
Oh. My. God. The Book. Everything I have done to get hold of The Book was worth it. There is now a huge black and white fax of my face and name with the sign “Shoot on sight†on the walls of all the local bookstores, and I may never get another book in advance for all the times (3 times a day) I call the folks at the book distributing companies prior to its release. But whatever. V was worth it. SO worth it.
Hats off to JR Ward who has managed once again to produce yet another masterpiece. And this one even better than all the rest. How she manages to tackle all the difficult issues in V’s book still amazes me. V, the tech geek vampire brother with a penchant for S&M and prophetic visions, not to mention a thing for pyrotechnics with that hand of his, has and will always be my favourite Brother. Burdened with a tortured past and a life of loneliness, he found solace in his friend Butch. In Lover Revealed, JR Ward took their friendship and gave it a rather homosexual twist, rather unusual for a soon-to-be romance novel hero to have gay tendencies where we all know (from lurking on the forums) that his shellan will be a female trauma surgeon (ohmigod, “MINE.†*squeals*).
That was just one of the things that kept me from getting a good night’s beauty sleep before The Book. Will JR Ward be able to successfully portray V as the macho alpha male vampire warrior who is 110% committed to protecting and keeping his shellan happy and not let whatever gay tendencies V has for Butch get in the way of or in any way detract from the romance between the lovebirds? Will JR Ward be able to find a female worthy to be with one as complicated and profoundly sexy (not to mention open minded in the ways of the bedroom or.. er.. rack) as V?? Will JR Ward be able to fit this whole Primale concept (the stud male to the Chosen.. ALL the Chosen. Again, more lurking in the forums. Get with the program!) into a romance novel (one man, one woman for life)??? Will she be able to work that whole humans-don’t-lead-immortal-lives-like-vampires bit???? WILL THE SEX BE AS HOT AND EROTIC AND THE ROMANCE AS SWEET AND POIGNANT AS I HAVE BEEN TELLING EVERYONE AND BETTING MY MONTH’S PAY ON??? *wild eyed and clutching scented pink lace hankie to heaving busom*
I didn’t have to worry one bit (and I’m a fair bit richer from my bet!). JR Ward has pulled and pushed and stretched the romance novel boundaries as few have managed successfully before. There’s no shying away, no hemming and hawing from touchy issues. JR Ward goes straight in and deals with the V-Butch two-step rhumba head on, explaining the whens and whys and hows, and yet still managing to take this hot potato and turn it into a wonderful Provencal potato gratin (with a dash of Habanero chilli) that is the relationship between V and Jane. No, the lovey dovey with Butch wasn’t a problem at all, it was merely one of the many facets of the beautiful diamond that is V which the brilliant authoress (my new word) has polished to shiny perfection. Poor complicated V. *mentally strokes V’s goatee, V’s broad muscular chest, V’s tattooed groinal (my other new word) region, V’s..*
Where was I? Oh right, V and Jane (in my mind, V and Mimi. Teehee). Jane is, thankfully, a strong and compassionate heroine, one capable of understanding the difficulties of V’s past and handling, with the ease and skill of an experienced lion tamer, V’s dominating and overwhelming nature (and body parts). If Jane had been a simpering ultra-feminine wisp of a woman I would have cried/cried out “V NEEDS SOMEONE LIKE ME!â€. V’s calm and seemingly impenetrable exterior is unapologetically barged through and broken down by Jane. Their relationship is not the sappy ones you often read in other romance novels. Their relationship is realistic yet sweet as evidenced by the witty repartees exchanged between the two and touching (hurhur) moments experienced by the pair in, where else, the bedroom. Jane is surprisingly open (hurhur again. Mimi’s dirty mind at work) to the whole S&M bondage leather set-up that V’s into and those of you who, like me, link this to the trust issues that V has, well.. DINGDINGDING! You’ve won yourself an all expenses paid trip to Caldwell New York and a guided tour of the Mansion! The sex scenes are, simply put, FRIGGIN’ AMAZING with a lot of fanning and leg crossing and blushing and giggling from me (sometimes in a public place). Hott. With a capital, bold, italicized, blinking H. I SO want V. As in all great romance novels, everything comes to a head in the aptly named (by another reviewer) Big Calamity, and V’s love and pain comes through clearly.. well, blurry for me because at this point I was crying buckets and thought how I should have bought stock in Kleenex.
JR Ward’s treatment of the humans-being-the-least-evolved-hence-die-the-fastest issue is very VERY interesting. She doesn’t cut-and-paste from Lover Revealed and came up with something TOTALLY new. It took me awhile to get used to it, but I’ve known never to expect the conventional from JR Ward, so I think it works. It’s different, you’d raise a well groomed eyebrow, but it works.
The other characters are developed further in Lover Unbound as well, namely Phury and John Matthews, who is, I’m sure to the great delight of a dear friend, not going to be the pansy that some have mocked him to be. Phury has his work cut out for him. Boy, is he going to be busy! Busy making up for lost time! A new character has also been introduced. Big surprise this one. WHO KNEW. WHO KNEW!!! I had to re-read that passage a few times. If you have a chart of the genealogy and lineage of the Brothers and other characters like I do (mine’s got glitter and stick on bling all over V’s name), more lines are drawn, more blanks are filled.
Whatever you do, DON’T MISS THIS BOOK. If you can only read ONE book this year (I pity you, I do) make it V’s book. It disturbs, it prods, it twists, it turns, it rubs and soothes. Your emotions that is, and leaves you wanting more *fans self*. When The Book hits the shelf, you be getting yourself a piece, true?
La Lola said,
September 19, 2007 @ 9:15 am
I too have to give a resounding cheer to this book, which I thought topped my beloved Z’s, although Z is still the only vamp for me.
I can safely say that after the amount of dry-heaving at one particular scene as I read in bed, my body racked with sobs, I woke up with a sore back the next day. Usually, my bed gets a different kind of workout let me tell you.
Digigirl said,
September 21, 2007 @ 2:10 am
Excellent, excellent review! I, alas, have not been able to find an early copy so am still waiting for my Lover Unbound (curses! foiled again!), but enjoyed your review tremendously. I have seen some comments elsewhere that people were disappointed by some of the turns this book takes, but I can’t *imagine* that to be the case for me. I’m glad to see there are others like myself out there, who can appreciate the unusual and the kinky!
Brava! Keep up the good work.
Wendy said,
September 21, 2007 @ 7:27 am
I am waaaaaaay behind, but I just bought Dark Lover.
La Lola said,
September 21, 2007 @ 9:12 am
Oh Wendy, welcome to the dark side.
La Lola said,
September 21, 2007 @ 11:16 am
Hi Digigirl, I am replying on behalf of Mimi, who has gone into mourning now that V’s book is over. (She’s lying prostrate on her skull-covered chaise lounge at the moment, clutching V’s book to her rather ample chest, and crooning “V…V…” softly.) But I’m sure she’d be thrilled to know that you liked her review, and will be sure to tell her that through the crack under the door. Maybe it’ll give her strength to rejoin the living!
Ma'mselle Mimi said,
September 21, 2007 @ 4:43 pm
*crawls towards the door (The Book clutched to chest of course) and opens it a crack*
Digigirl, you can always count on Mimi to champion the unusual and the kinky (Lola and Sheridan tell me I do that too much sometimes.. pfft). The time is nearly upon you! Prepare yourself well. Phone off the hook, fridge full of pre-made frozen margaritas, Marks & Spencer teacakes, 4 boxes of Kleenex and an industrial airconditioner (it gets real HOT). All necessities. Let us know when you’ve experienced The Book.
*slides door close and continues stroking The Book*
Wendy said,
September 22, 2007 @ 2:17 am
Just finished chapter 19 of DL….*pant pant* I think I’m having a stroke…
cutepolishgirl68 said,
September 22, 2007 @ 5:41 am
Wendy-
keep going- the books just get better and hotter!!!!!!
Just realiize that once you start this series- they WILL take over your life- work, laundry, shopping, etc., just become nuisances needing to be dealt with ….do not be surprised when you start dreaming of the characters! It happened to me, and I did not want to wake up each morning just to get my kids off to school!!!!!!!!
My friends that have no romantic literary appreciation (can they really be my friends?) can not understand why “What’s doing?” is my new fave saying!!!
Light Spanking is Ok said,
September 24, 2007 @ 5:44 pm
OMG I had dreams of the Brothers too!! It left me feeling VERY exhausted the next morning…
La Lola said,
September 24, 2007 @ 5:57 pm
Light Spanking, kindly keep your pervy thoughts to yourself!
Wendy said,
September 25, 2007 @ 2:53 am
I used to have the best dreams about Spike and Buffy and I really miss those, so bring the Brother dreams on!
Of course, I have been totally corrupted by that “if the Brothers were really brothers” website, so it will be interested to see whether I dream them as white or black.
digigirl said,
September 25, 2007 @ 11:31 pm
OMG! OMG! Amazon says I should be receiving Lover Unbound TODAY!!!
*lays back, fanning self*
Breathe……
cutepolishgirl68 said,
September 27, 2007 @ 2:51 am
Thanks for the tip on having the box of tissues. I just now finished the book and my mind is a whirwind! I really loved Jane and her take no shit attitude.
Everything in this book made sense including the imagine man-on-man action between V and Butch! I think the great thing is that an inferior author could have ended the storyline at so many parts and just gone to the next book- but this author really seems to respect her readers by going all out and pulling in every detail to make this a truly complete novel. 502 pages! I hope the next one is just as long!
Now my question is about V’s vision of the word BROTHER when he wipes Manny’s memory- Do you think Manny and Payne will end up together at some point.
The only bad thing about this series is having to wait for the next book.
I’m going to take a nap and catch up on sleep now, and then start a new book- talk to ya later mamasitas!!!!!!
PS. Z is still the one for me!!!!!!!!
Digigirl said,
September 27, 2007 @ 2:51 am
All I can say is…. Wow.
I feel emotionally whipped.
How will I ever make it until next June for the next book?
Sheridan Sakura Carlotta said,
September 27, 2007 @ 8:55 am
Hi cutepolishgirl68 and Digigirl! Congrats on finishing the book!
I too suspect that Manny and Payne may end up together somewhere down the series..and it is possible that the Warden will do a Butch on Manny (i.e. Manny becomes a vamp (though it’ll be interesting to see how JR Ward will explain Manny’s transition)).
Did y’all not cry buckets when (a) V was making hot chocolate for Jane as his goodbye gift; (b) V was driving the car after his dream had come true; and (c) V’s attempt at sacrificing himself? “Emotionally whipped” is truly a good way to describe the aftermath that is “Lover Unbound”
La Lola said,
September 27, 2007 @ 9:17 am
I cried when V’s books were burned. I imagined all of mine going up in flames, and I let out a banshee howl.
Ma'mselle Mimi said,
September 27, 2007 @ 10:42 am
What did I tell ya. It’s good, true?
But just a teeny tiny gentle reminder…..
VISHOUS IS MINE.
Teehee. Now we must wait for the next book. *screams*
OH the long days ahead!
bkgirl812 said,
April 14, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
girls let me tell you,this book made me blush! I was reading it at work and kept having to put the book down every couple of minutes just to catch my breath. i’m feeling a flushed just thinking about it (fanning myself). i’m really happy to read a positive review on this book so many other sites were so negative. i’m in between v and z. they are both muy caliente!
bkgirl812 said,
April 14, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
BTW have you girls read Ms. Charlaine Harris’ southern vampire series? she was my first foray into vamp fiction. her series is great not as hot and spicy as the BDB series but really good in its own way. plus the next book in the series is due out may 6th can’t wait!
La Lola said,
April 14, 2008 @ 4:50 pm
Hey bkgirl812, we did have some issues with the whole Jane the Friendly Ghost thing. Muy calente is right!
And I have read the Southern Vampire series. I am strictly rooting for Eric! E-R-I-C! E-R-I-C!
bkgirl812 said,
April 15, 2008 @ 5:16 am
same here on both accounts!